Earplugs
by Isica
Summary: It's Christmas and the Raydor siblings are coming home. But they were not expecting this... Rusty has to give his siblings an early Christmas gift, for their own sanity.
1. Chapter 1

Earplugs

 **Disclaimer:** Not Mine. Glad that's sorted.

Takes place post-engagement, pre-season 5 finale.

/

'So it's all sorted. Rusty, you're picking Emily and Ricky up from the airport at 1500, and bringing them back here, before we meet you at Carlucci's at 1800?'

'Yep,' Rusty said, practically inhaling the rest of his cereal. 'Hobbs has given me a half day today, as she has one, so I'll grab some lunch then go to the airport.'

'Wonderful,' Sharon gave him a smile. 'Oh, I can't wait to see Ricky and Emily again. And to spend Christmas together as a full family, it's going to be amazing.'

She was so happy, Rusty could tell even without her needing to say it. It would be the first Christmas as an official extended family. Andy had even persuaded both of his kids to come over in the evening, as other familial obligations prevented them from spending the whole day. But he had put his foot down and insisted they come for at least part of it, and it was a mark of how far he had come in his relationships with them that they had been planning it anyway. He had been thrilled. And Sharon had been thrilled for him.

'We have to go,' Andy interjected at this point, pulling Sharon to the door. 'See you tonight Rusty. Call us if they're delayed for any reason.'

'Sure,' Rusty said. 'And you have no excuse to be late either. Chief Howard already gave you the time off.'

'How do you know?' Sharon asked, pausing in the act of zipping up her boots and peering quizzically over her glasses.

'He told me,' Rusty replied. 'Something about wanting to ensure the two workaholics actually used their time off.'

'Fritz has some explaining to do,' Andy muttered, and Rusty snorted before departing for his room.

He heard the front door slam and heaved a sigh of relief. He had work to do before his siblings arrived and not much time. He grabbed his work bag and put in a few items before extracting a package from the back of his wardrobe and placing it carefully inside his bag. He set up two camp beds and the extra fluffy sleeping bags Sharon had purchased in his room, before looking round to check it was immaculate. Satisfied, he departed for his car and drove to work.

As it was the last day before the holidays, the district attorney's office was not keen on working too hard. Rusty was mainly archiving, and planning work for the week Hobbs returned as she made calls and typed reports for her caseload. She explained to Rusty how, although the courts did no business for a few days around the Christmas period, each caseload must be at a satisfactory pause point otherwise she could not go home. Rusty listened attentively, made a few notes, brought her coffee a couple of times when he could see she was flagging, earning a grateful smile and continued shelving the paused caseloads.

At 1330 the DDA stopped and looked at the clock. 'There,' she said. 'Finished. Just in time for lunch and enough time to call it a half-day. Since you have been so helpful and I owe you anyway, how about I take you to lunch at the deli cafe opposite?'

'Great,' Rusty said. 'Er, I mean thank you. I have to be at the airport at three though, will that be a problem?'

'Not at all, since you're cheaper than a taxi, if you don't mind,' Hobbs said, pulling out a travel bag Rusty had assumed held a change of clothes and a laptop, it was so small. 'I need to be at the airport myself, so I'll buy lunch and it should cover my share of your petrol money.'

It was one of the reasons that Rusty liked Hobbs, and the reason he knew Sharon liked her too; she didn't mess around. 'I knew there had to be a catch.'

'Art of the deal, Mr Beck,' Hobbs said to him as they made their way to the car. 'Art of the deal.'

The deli cafe made excellent food, and Hobbs and Rusty thoroughly enjoyed the huge sandwiches and accompanying salads they were served. Even Rusty was full. 'Wow,' he said, finishing his food first and pushing the plate away. 'That was filling. I gotta go to Carlucci's tonight as well.'

'So have a small meal tonight,' Hobbs said around a mouthful of pastrami.

' _Carlucci's_ ,' Rusty pointed out. 'The best pasta in Los Angeles. Full plate. I can get it boxed afterwards.'

'Why do that though? Just pay for a smaller plate.'

'Because,' Rusty looked sheepish in front of his boss, 'because I was taught never to leave food in case more wouldn't come for a while.'

Hobbs looked at him sternly. 'Sharon Beck has a lot to answer for,' was all she said.

Embarrassed, Rusty shrugged and diverted the conversation away. They were a little late leaving, and he had to do some risky driving which almost ended with a ticket but for the camera being broken. Andrea jumped out of the car the second he pulled into the car park. 'Thanks, Rusty,' she said breathlessly. 'I have to run but I'll see you at the office when I get back. Have a good Christmas!' And she took off in a surprisingly quick sprint for someone wearing heels that high.

Rusty grabbed his bag at a more leisurely pace, moved the passenger seat back to accommodate Ricky, and headed inside. He saw Andrea checking in, and waved goodbye as she went through the gate. The arrivals board was updating, so he waited to confirm before heading to the gate for Ricky's flight.

His brother arrived precisely on time and enveloped his younger sibling in a bear hug. 'Little bro, how are you?' he said with a giant smile reminiscent of his father's. 'Where's Emily?'

'Her flight's delayed,' Rusty said as he was released. 'She should be here in about twenty minutes though, so I figured I would find you first and we'd head over to collect Emily together.'

'Cool,' Ricky said as he picked up his bag. 'Which gate?'

'Three,' Rusty said as they started walking. 'You need me to carry anything?'

'Nah, I'm good.'

They didn't have to wait long. As Rusty predicted, Emily wasn't more than another twenty minutes. And her first words to her siblings were not greetings, but more like, 'I would KILL for a cup of coffee!'

'And hello to you too,' Ricky said, as he hugged his sister. He was more of a tactile person than either Rusty or Emily. 'Is that way to greet us?'

'I know, but the flight was terrible,' Emily grumbled. 'The hot water wasn't working, and all they were offering was alcohol and water. To top it off, they'd forgotten the snack food, and I hadn't paid for a meal. That doesn't matter so much, but I need my coffee.'

'There's a fairly decent cafe around the corner from the airport,' Rusty volunteered. I need to talk to you about some stuff before we go back to the condo anyway, just in case Mom and Andy are home early. We can get coffee and have a discussion.'

'Sounds good,' Emily cheered, but Ricky shot a curious look at Rusty as they headed to the car. They drove to the cafe, ordered and sat down. Emily drank her first sip while it was still scalding hot, oblivious to Ricky's incredulous and slightly impressed face, before she settled down and turned to her brother.

'So what do you need to talk to us about? I hope it's not serious.'

'Not at all,' Rusty said, 'but you don't want me to tell you when we get home. I have some early Christmas gifts.' He pulled out the brown paper bag he had stashed in his bag this morning like he was doing a cliché drug deal. 'These are for you.'

Emily and Ricky looked at each other, then accepted the bag. They pulled out a pair of earplugs each. 'Why would we need these?' Ricky wondered out loud. Then, 'Oh God, no.'

He was rewarded with a half-smile, half-grimace from his younger brother. No wonder Rusty hadn't waited 'til they got back to do this. 'Jesus, Rusty, really?'

'I don't understand,' Emily said. Rusty and Ricky slowly turned to face her. 'Why -?' Then she got it too. 'Oh man, are you serious?'

'It's not too bad,' Rusty hastened to reassure them. 'It's just occasionally. You might hear Mom giggling – yes she does that now – or the bed creaking, which are good indicators that something's about to happen. I've never given myself the opportunity to hear more. But the condo's not renowned for its soundproofing, you know?'

'Is this why you were insistent that I don't sleep on the couch?' Ricky asked, and Rusty nodded. 'Trust me, you don't want to be in there. Even the three of us crammed into my room is better than the acoustics of the lounge. I speak from experience.'

'What about Gus?' Emily asked. 'Will he be joining us for Christmas?'

'He can't,' Rusty said sadly. 'He's rushed off his feet at Christmas, and he's taking a few extra shifts to help him win a promotion. We won't see him at all.'

'Has the sound thing been this bad for a while?' Emily asked, quickly diverting the subject back to their Mom. She hadn't been back to LA recently.

'Well it wasn't when I came to stay after they got engaged,' Ricky pointed out. 'But Andy was still getting over his heart attack then.'

'Well, they're making up for it now,' Rusty helpfully, a shit-eating grin quickly returning to his face. 'But Mom would be so mortified if she knew we knew, and I knew you guys would need some time to process it, so that's why we're discussing it here, instead of when we arrived.'

'Sounds like they've been doing it every night,' Emily observed.

Rusty looked pained. 'They have when they're both home.'

Ricky whistled. 'Andy's got stamina.'

'I try not to listen,' Rusty said. 'Mom should have her privacy, but I don't like my music on all night. These ear plugs are a good compromise, and they're comfortable.'

'Well we definitely don't want to hear it either,' Emily said decisively. She put the earplugs in her bag, nestled in a secure compartment, and Ricky did the same. 'I mean, I'm glad Mom's happy, but no one needs that.'

'Nope,' Rusty said. 'Let's finish our drinks, and we'll go home and get ready for tonight. I don't want to catch traffic and show up late, or Mom might murder us.'

Emily drained her drink immediately and sighed. 'That's so much better. I needed that.'

'I should think you did, steel-mouth,' Ricky teased, still nursing half a cup. 'I'll get this to go.' He headed up to the counter and returned with a take-out cup. 'You finished Rusty? Good, shall we?'

They had a pleasant evening at Carlucci's. Nicole had managed to duck out of an awkward situation (her husband was taking the children to see his late wife's family) and joined them for dinner, to Andy's visible pleasure. Nicole got along extremely well with the Raydor siblings and to Sharon and Andy's surprise, seemed to know a lot about their lives. Everyone present decided not to mention the sibling group chat.

It seemed that Sharon and Andy had temporarily decided to call a halt to their bedroom activities while Ricky and Emily were over, as there was no sound that night and everyone slept soundly. Andy was out the following night, as a person he was monitoring in AA was having a crisis, requiring his presence. He turned up the following morning, heavy-eyed but successful; his mentee had not relapsed. Rusty was beginning to think the earplugs might not be needed after all when Sharon received a call.

'Raydor.' She listened for a moment. 'No, no, I completely understand. Murder waits for no one!' She ended the call and turned to Andy, who groaned. 'No, no, no, we were promised this time off!'

'I know,' Sharon sighed, 'but Provenza seemed hopeful it won't take more than a day to sort. And we've completed our Christmas gift shopping. Rusty,' she turned to him as she began gathering her things, 'you know where the list is. Get what you can done, and don't worry about the rest. I'm sorry guys,' she said to Ricky and Emily, 'we'll be as quick as we can.' They headed out the door, and the three looked at each other.

'List?' Emily said.

'Mom predicted this and planned ahead,' Rusty explained as he pulled a piece of paper from a kitchen drawer. 'It's a to-do list for each day leading up to Christmas. So today we were going to pick up last minute Christmas stuff, and she suggested we still go, and has a list of stuff she wants us to buy.'

'Okay then,' Ricky said. 'Let's go shopping.'

Sharon and Andy did not return that day. Rusty got a call from Andy saying that events had taken a twist, and they would be at the office all night. He sounded tired, and let slip that they would be sleeping in shifts all night. Rusty sympathised and reassured Andy that they were taking care of everything. He was thanked, and Andy rang off.

Rusty cooked dinner while Emily and Ricky decorated the house. He still felt strange doing it anyway, so the food was a perfect distraction. They ate, then put on a movie. Emily decided to take the sofa that night, claiming she needed some space for a bit, and this was the perfect opportunity. Ricky and Rusty had no such issues, or any space left to claim if they had, and went into the room they shared.

The next day continued like the previous one. The condo was made ready for Christmas, Rusty messaged Gus a few times, and Emily spent a suspicious amount of time talking on her phone in secret, for which Ricky and Rusty teased her mercilessly. Mid-afternoon, Sharon called to say they hoped to wrap up the case by late evening, so they may see them tonight.

It was about midnight when Sharon and Andy eventually got home. Although the trio were in bed, they weren't asleep. There were the muffled sounds of dropping of keys and the click of the bathroom door before all three clearly heard their soon-to-be stepfather push their mother against the wall and her muttered phrase of 'Fuck, Andy.' In the semi-darkness, Rusty silently pointed to his ears and he, Emily, and Ricky reached for their earplugs.

Rusty was right, Emily thought as she pushed the earplugs in and put the duvet over her head. Mom would be horrified if she knew we could hear them, and actually, the earplugs were surprisingly comfy. It was not unlike stuffing your ear with a marshmallow. And that was something she could attest to, thanks to a childish escapade.

Rusty, more used to his surroundings, the bed and this situation than anyone else, drifted off to sleep fairly quickly. He didn't snore; not that Emily would have heard him anyway. He'd once admitted to his Raydor sister that he'd trained himself out of making sound when he slept, in order to minimise anyone locating him. It had made Emily cry a lot when she'd thought about it later.

Ricky stayed awake, a natural restlessness built in from years of broken, interrupted sleep as a child when Sharon had had to take a case in the middle of the night and drop them with a friend. He couldn't hear a thing, but his mind ran along the same lines as his sister's. Rusty had been very thoughtful towards his mom and her partner. He could have revealed everything and humiliated them, but instead he'd sourced ways to deal with it and prepare his adopted siblings as well. Then he fell asleep, suddenly tired.

/

Reviews please! Will add another chapter soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Earplugs

 **Disclaimer:** As before.

/

The next morning, neither Sharon nor Andy gave any acknowledgement of what had happened the previous night. They all met up again for breakfast, their first family meal in a few days, and discussed their plans. It was Christmas Eve, and Sharon was hoping to start preparing the beginnings of tomorrow's lunch, for which both Andy and Rusty were standbys on the vegetable peeling front, and Emily and Ricky both had separate plans to meet up with old friends.

Ricky was having a hard time keeping his composure at the breakfast table. In addition to the knowledge of the night before, he was sitting on his mother's right-hand side and was consequently in a perfect position to observe the faint teeth marks on her neck where Andy had clearly got slightly rough. The first time he had seen it he spluttered and his drink adorned the table. Although he'd been able to write it off as a coughing fit, Rusty was not fooled and had demanded an explanation the minute they were away from the table. The poor boy was not surprised in the least and had simply replied, 'Well at least it wasn't a hickey,' to his older brother's disgust, horror, and slightly unnerving realisation that that had probably happened before.

Ricky had a vague suspicion, however, that Andy Flynn was completely aware of what he'd seen adorning his mother's neck. The lieutenant was in quite frankly precarious health, but his detective skills were still razor sharp and Ricky knew he was incredibly observant. In addition, there was a wicked grin on Flynn's face as he watched his oldest stepson. Clearly that had been where Rusty had acquired the look.

Ricky dismissed it from his mind and went to get ready to leave. Although he was staying in LA for a comparatively lengthier stay this time, the Christmas festivities were putting a serious dent in his ability to revisit old friends and those he had managed to arrange plans with were on serious deadlines. Emily was in the same boat, her stay being even shorter than her brother's and they were both ready at the speed of light, barrelling out the door with quick farewells. Rusty was also leaving; Gus had found himself unexpectedly free amidst the Christmas rush and they were spending the morning together before he had to go back to work. Andy and Rusty had therefore agreed to trade off; Rusty would assist in kitchen prep in the afternoon so that Andy could attend a meeting (he always liked to go on Christmas Eve, partly to help boost others, and partly for his own reinforcement over the Christmas period), and complete one or two last minute errands, which Rusty suspected were late gifts.

He had the morning with Gus and returned punctually at 1330 to the condo. Andy departed ten minutes later, and he and Sharon were left alone. It was an unusual scenario, especially recently. His illness notwithstanding, Andy was still reticent about being in the condo alone and preferred to have someone around. Sharon and Rusty had not had quality alone time for a while. Secretly, Rusty missed it and revelled in the opportunity to just "be" with his mom.

They worked in silence for a while. Rusty concentrated on peeling enough potatoes for five people to have them roasted, and a decent helping of mashed potatoes too. Sharon was preparing the turkey, which she liked to marinate in herbs the night before the event, "a family tradition," she said.

'So, how was Gus?' she asked, in the middle of preparing the mix.

'Busy,' Rusty sighed, peeling his ninth potato. In all honesty, although he admired Gus' tenacity and ambition in bettering himself, a small, selfish part of him wished it wasn't in such an unsocial career as catering. Rusty knew full well that a lawyer wasn't much better in that regard, but the thought remained.

'Well, Christmas will always be a busy time for a chef,' Sharon said sympathetically. 'Are you sure he can't get away? I'm sure we'll have enough room for one more-'

'No, he definitely won't be here tomorrow,' Rusty said emphatically. Gus had shown him his schedule, and he would be lucky if they met up again before New Year. 'He's crazy busy.'

'Okay,' his mom said. Then seemingly out of the blue, she asked, 'By the way, it's very generous of you to share your room with both Ricky and Emily. You three must be squashed in like sardines. Why isn't one of you on the couch?'

Rusty looked up from his task to see Sharon's back to him as she stirred. 'Oh,' he said. 'Well, it isn't very convenient to have someone trying to sleep on the couch over Christmas, especially if people want to stay up late or go to bed early.' He hoped that covered it.

'Ah, I see,' his mother replied. 'It's very considerate of you.'

Was that sarcasm? Rusty couldn't tell. He returned to the potatoes.

Emily and Ricky returned that evening, full of stories about old friends, engagements, children and events caught up on and dramas they had missed. The retelling occupied most of the evening, as Sharon was engrossed in the stories, having known many of the participants as they had grown up. Andy returned just before they all got hungry, with the sandwiches he'd been instructed to pick up hanging on his arm.

They ate on their laps lounging on the sofas, laughing and chatting. Emily and Sharon discreetly indulged in glasses of wine; Ricky abstained with Andy, he'd seen enough of his father to refrain from drinking too frequently.

When they finally turned in, it was inevitable what was going to happen. The siblings didn't even bother to communicate their intentions; all three simply put in the earplugs and crawled into bed. No one needed to hear that.

* * *

'I'm amazed that Ricky hasn't said anything to you yet,' Andy said as he lay next to Sharon that night. 'That boy looks like he's bursting to yell at us to be quiet.'

'I think Rusty got to him,' Sharon replied as she turned over. 'Or more accurately, I think he gifted both Emily and Ricky those earplugs he uses as an early Christmas gift. There's no way the three of them voluntarily agreed to share a room unless Rusty told them about the problem with the lounge.'

'I can't believe you asked him why they were all sharing the same room. How did he not notice you laughing?'

'I had my back to him,' Sharon said. 'We didn't make eye contact. That made it easier, of course. And he didn't give anything away.'

Andy snorted. 'I have to hand it to the kid, he's been very discreet about this,' he said fondly. 'Not many people would have handled it so well.'

'It's definitely a really good argument for soundproofing a few rooms when we finally get around to buying a new home,' Sharon said thoughtfully. 'After all, we won't want to hear Rusty either.'

'Aw jeez, did you have to remind me of that?'

The "loud sex project" had been the brainchild of Sharon Raydor one sleep-deprived night after she and Andy had got fed up of hearing Rusty and Gus enjoying themselves one too many times. In retaliation, they had decided to turn their volume up a notch so that Rusty would realise just how thin the walls were in the condo. It had worked rather well, but Sharon, trained into a lifetime of silencing her pleasure, was secretly hoping that Rusty wouldn't take the hint as well as he had. She had got used to being able to vocalise again and was hoping that she wouldn't have to revert to near-silence so soon. 'It's been fun though, hasn't it?' she said coquettishly, flattening herself flush against her fiancé. She was rewarded with a kiss as he twitched against her involuntarily.

'Very much so,' he muttered in her ear, which despite the fun they'd had already that evening, sent another shudder of desire through her. 'Oh, look at that,' he added, surprised. 'It's after midnight. Merry Christmas, Sharon.'

'Merry Christmas,' she replied before snuggling into his warm chest as she heard him sigh in contentment.

No, she definitely did not want to give this up.

/

/

Devious little Raydor. Review please! Debating whether to add another chapter, or finish it here.


	3. Chapter 3

Earplugs

 **Disclaimer:** Not Mine. Glad that's sorted.

Takes place post-engagement, pre-season 5 finale.

/

As a compromise for Andy during the Christmas lunch, they had agreed to ban alcoholic drinks from the table. Those who wanted them were going to have them in the evening, with Andy's children, but Flynn requested that they not accompany the food, it being a weak point for him. As it had been his only request regarding the matter, everyone was all too happy to comply and they sat around the table clutching tumblers of water, soda and juice.

Sharon felt pleased but tired with the result. She had, in common with all adults preparing a turkey, been up from quite early on in the morning ensuring that everything would cook properly. The others had been very helpful, but there were always things you liked to oversee yourself. She had already had a small glass of wine (well, dregs of a glass) and was feeling quite light.

'Shall we pull the crackers?' she asked. 'We can get them out of the way before we start.'

'Good idea,' Rusty said and picked up his. He offered it to Ricky, sitting next to him, and they yanked it apart.

'Oh look at that,' Andy said involuntarily as Rusty's cracker gift fell onto the table. 'They look like earplugs.'

Sharon snickered before she could help herself. There was dead silence around the table. Rusty looked aghast, Emily and Ricky stunned. Sharon couldn't hold it any longer and burst out laughing. A second later, Andy joined her.

'You knew?!' Ricky cried, snapping the pieces together faster than his siblings. 'You knew about this? This was a prank? Mom!'

Sharon was laughing so hard (she didn't know why, she just was) tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks. She couldn't reply; every time she looked up she caught sight of Rusty's expression, and it made her laugh all the harder.

'Do you have _any_ idea how traumatic this has been?' Rusty said, finding his voice at last. 'Having to avoid listening to you two...do it?'

Andy had calmed down somewhat, although Sharon was still shaking with laughter by his side. 'Do _you_ have any idea how traumatic it is to avoid listening to you and Gus without the aid of earplugs?' he asked quizzically.

'You mean...oh, god,' Rusty said, colour flooding into his face. 'You did all this to prove a point? But you kept it up for weeks! Why not just tell me?'

'We're dedicated,' Andy said with a straight face, setting Sharon off into fresh spasms of laughter.

'I may be scarred for life,' Emily announced to the table, although as someone not directly involved, she could also see the funny side.

'Ditto,' Ricky was not letting Emily play the only victim here. 'I've had to stay here with earplugs in, crammed into a bedroom that is only really fit for one person, not three! Jeez, Mom, you couldn't prove the point another way?'

Sharon, who had recovered her composure, looked her oldest son in the eyes and said calmly, 'it was fun.' She felt Andy's hand snake around her waist as the siblings went off into another fresh convulsion of revulsion in front of them.

'Mentally scarred, Mom, mentally scarred!' Emily said as she took a sip of her drink.

'Physically scarred,' Ricky pointed out. 'If I ever have to cramp myself into sharing a room with Emily and Rusty again, I'm pretty sure my muscles will never recover.'

'Oh my god,' Rusty said, still reeling. 'You couldn't have just said something to me?' he repeated. Sharon looked at him.

'I could have, but you weren't picking up on our hints so we decided to try a less subtle approach,' she said. 'I say we, but mostly I came up with the idea and Andy was all too happy to go with it.'

'So, are we going to need earplugs tonight?' Ricky asked bluntly. Andy smirked.

'Well, it is Christmas,' he said, planting a kiss on Sharon's cheek.

 **FIN**

/

Reviews please! I enjoy the interactions between Rusty, Ricky and Emily...perhaps a post-wedding sequel? Opinions?


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